The work of acclaimed Cuban American artist Julio Larraz will be featured in an exhibition opening Sunday at the Butler Institute of American Art.

The exhibition coincides with National Hispanic Heritage Month.

Larraz, who lives in Miami, started as a political cartoonist whose work appeared in such publications as the Washington Post and New York Times. The sharp observation and keen sense of narrative displayed in that work infuses his paintings.

His oil paintings inhabit a realm where reality and imagination converge. With a mastery of light, precision of detail and an ever-present undercurrent of wit, Larraz constructs visual narratives that are at once alluring and enigmatic.

His compositions often weave together satirical social commentary, poetic symbolism and art-historical allusions, inviting viewers to decipher their multiple layers of meaning.

His works are frequently anchored in imagined spaces, seascapes, grand interiors and improbable architectural constructs that blur the boundaries between truth and fiction. Marine imagery remains a recurrent theme, serving as both a visual signature and a metaphor for exploration, displacement and the subconscious.

Larraz had his first solo exhibition in Washington, D.C., in 1971, and he has had solo shows at Coral Gables Museum and Ascaso Gallery (Florida), Miles McEnery Gallery (New York), Art of the World Gallery (Texas), Contini Galleria d’Arte (Venice), and Complesso del Vittoriano (Rome).

He has received numerous awards from institutions such as the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Center for the Arts and Education in New York.

“Julio Larraz: A Prayer for Peace” will be on display through Nov. 23 at the Butler, 524 Wick Ave., Youngstown. An opening reception originally planned for Sunday has been canceled due to a medical matter.